


Lee: Month by Month

by JustALilSnail



Series: 1000 Ways to Tell the Stoll Brothers Apart and I Can Name You One [26]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Lee being a bro, Lee fletcher origin story, Minor Character Death, OC death, Some angst, big brother lee fletcher, canon character death, i need to stop, negligent parents, praying Riordian don’t release a backstory for these minor characters., some slice of life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 04:54:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20501219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustALilSnail/pseuds/JustALilSnail
Summary: In just one short year, Lee lost Luke, gave up his extracurriculars, met the devil, attended a lot of funerals, and went to college.But, hey. At least he met one more of his half-siblings! So it’s not all that bad.





	Lee: Month by Month

**Author's Note:**

> Headcanons. Headcanons as far as the eye can seeeeee. Sorry. This chapter is 11k words long. I too feel this chapter is too long but I cut chapters by what I feel is natural rather than word count.
> 
> 4/24/20. had to edit some scenes because they don't match up with the book. Mainly that they don't mention the fleece until after Percy came to camp.

# Lee — Temper

Lee (18) - Travis (13) - Connor (12)

** _Post The Lightning Thief _ **

* * *

**—August 2006—**

Lee drums his pencils on the pingpong table in the conference room. He doesn’t quite understand why they’re here or what the big emergency is or even why Travis and Connor are sitting with them and not Luke, but Lee is not a questioner. And a non-questioner does not question. 

“Hey,” Lee starts with an easy grin and all six pairs of eyes turn to him, “You guys up for some foosball while we wait for Chiron?”

“You’re on,” Rowling says with his wild grin. “Loser owes winner a popsicle.”

Lillith snorts. “You’re way over your head. Lee can beat you one handed.”

Karen chimes, “He can do it blindfolded.”

Mikaela raises her shoulders. “He can do it without even touching the handles.”

“Woah now guys let’s not make me out to be some kind of demon. I’m just an average player with average skills.” But his words fall on deaf ears as his fellow head-counselors continue to play him up to be some sort of foosball god / champion / elite. 

“He doesn’t even have to be in the same room as you.”

“And he doesn’t have to be awake either!” a kid’s voice says from the end of the table and Lee nearly forgot about the two little children they have with them. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Rowling grunts. “You’re from Hermes cabin, right? Go fetch Luke. Chiron called for an emergency meeting.”

Travis shrugs. “Chiron said to go to the Big House and wait with everyone else.”

“Chiron also said you have to give me Cheez-Its,” Connor mumbles around a mouthful of crackers.

“Don’t lie to us,” Lee teases, “Chiron didn’t say that.”

Rowling throws a key onto the table. “You guys go get it yourself from the camp store. Get me some rice krispie while you’re at it.”

“We can get in without the key,” they announce proudly. 

“Should you _ really _ be announcing this to us?” Karen sweat drops. “We are obligated to tell Chiron these sorts of things.”

Travis shrugs again. “Luke knew and never tattled on us.”

“Go ahead and tell him. I want a new lock to break,” says Connor with this twinkle in his eyes. 

“Who cares about that? Go get me some rice krispie and make sure you get five of them.”

“Aww, Rowling, that’s so nice of you to share.”

“What? No, they’re all for me. Get your own.”

“Travis, Connor, get ten and give none to Ro.”

“You asshole! I asked them first! Do what I say. Not Lillith.”

Lee grins and leans back in his chair. His friends continue to bicker, insults and taunts flying back and forth relentlessly, but it’s said in good fun. It’s been this way since they all come to their counselor seat. It’s always been said in good fun. 

It all ended here 

A burst of light. There was everything. Then nothing. The world comes back as a canvas of gray. Rain pour outside. Snow hails. The wind screams. And at the end of the table, the spot where Chiron sits, is Luke.

He’s not wearing his camp shirt but outside clothes. There’s a haunting smile on his scarred face. A bitter smile. A frightening smile. 

Beside Lee, Karen chokes out, “L-Luke?”

It’s like the spell broke then. Rowling and Mikaela both reach for their sword. Lillith jumps out of her seat. Karen latches onto his arm, nails digging into his biceps, and Rosette remains still, body tensed in fear? Shock? Or maybe she’s asleep. Lee can never tell with the way her bangs cover her eyes. 

Lee’s eyes go to the other side, where Travis and Connor are supposed to be but they’re gone. It’s just them six in the conference room. 

“Calm down,” Luke drawls as he leans back in his chair and puts both of his feet on top of the table. “It’s just me.”

But the aura surrounding him, the aura that makes it hard to breathe, that curls his stomach and presses down on him like an overbearing hand, tells him this isn’t Luke. 

“Luke, what is that?” Mikaela asks with a hard face, “What are you holding?”

“This?” And Lee Luke casually twirls his weapon in the air. Half the blade glows the godly glow of celestial gold but the other half… the other half is plain metal. 

A weapon capable of both hurting monsters and humans. 

His throat clenches. Why does he have that? What is he going to do with that?

“Luke, answer the damn—” Rowling starts, but Luke laughs.

He laughs in a way he never did before. Free. Uncontained. Happy. 

And the overwhelming force becomes stronger until it feels like something is going to break.

_ Luke… _

“The world is crumbling, you guys. And you’re untethered,” Luke says with a manic grin. The scar on his face twists because of it. His blue irises change to gold. “Chiron is going to tell you what’s going to happen. I’ll give you an ultimatum. Join me and live to create a new world. Or stay with the gods and die.” 

“Luke, what are you—”

“I’ll talk to you all later. Ciao.”

The pressure lifts and color floods back into the room. Travis and Connor are by his side and shake his shoulder with wide eyes. 

“Lee? Are you okay? You all just stopped talking and stared into space for a whole minute.”

“I—”

_ I… _What is he supposed to say? Your counselor went crazy? Your brother is now a psychopath? The person who brought you a life is now going to destroy it? He didn’t have to say any of that, Thank Gods, because Chiron rolls into the conference room with a grim expression.

“Sorry for the delay. I know your parents are waiting for you. Let’s get started shall we?”

In five short minutes, Chiron fills them in on what’s happening. Luke is evil. He poisoned Percy. He’s working with Kronos. He’s going to tear Olympus down. He’s crazy. He’s dangerous. He’s gone off the deep end. 

And when it is all said and done, Chiron raises an eyebrow at all of them. “You’re all taking this quite well. I thought there would be more—”

“What the HELL!” Rowling yells, slamming his fist down on the table.

Chiron leans back in his wheelchair. “There it is.” 

“What the FUCK! What the CRAP!”

“Watch your mouth, Rowling,” Lillith snaps, her green eyes wandering over to Travis and Connor. She turns to Chiron and in her always remarkably calm voice, she asks, “What now? What’s going to happen?”

Chiron sighs and strokes his beard. “Probably a war. I can’t imagine Luke backing down.”

“War?!” Karen shrieks, her nails _ really _ digging into his arm. “Who’s going to fight in this war?!”

“Who the fuck do you think, moron?” Rowling yells. “US! We’ll be the one fighting!”

“Let’s all calm down,” Chiron says, trying to bring back control but once Karen starts literally nothing short of a natural disaster can stop her. 

“Us? _ Us?! _Why us? Can’t Mom fight for us? This is a titan we’re talking about! We can’t win against a titan! I can barely win tug of war against my poodle and she’s just a wee little puppy!”

“The gods don’t give a flying fuck about us, Karen. They’re not going to do anything just like they always do. Dumb, lazy pieces of sh—” 

“Rowling, I’m going to ask you to please refrain from insulting the gods as such,” Chiron says with a strained voice. “I’ll be here to guide you all. Do not fret. It’ll be alright, Karen.” 

But Karen just begins sobbing into his shirt and Lee rubs her back, repeating Chiron’s words. 

Coughing once, Chiron nods his head towards the brothers. “With Luke’s departure, Travis will become the new cabin counselor and if he so wishes, Connor can be a counselor as well.” 

He waits for Chiron to yell out “joking!” Or “sike!” Or “got you all! April fools!” Because call it compassion. Call it sympathy. Call it common sense even. But Travis cannot lead the biggest cabin on camp when he’s just a kid himself. 

“What about Dominic? He should be the next oldest,” Lee asks. 

Chiron shakes his head. “Dominic is with Luke.”

“Holden then? Millie? Chevette? Aeron?” Lee continues. 

“All gone.”

“Chris too?” a small voice says, voice cracking at the end, and Lee looks at them. They’re so small. So young. They’re scared. They’re frightened. But their chins are held high and their faces determined. Until one of them sneezes and rubs his nose with the back of his wrist and Lee is reminded he’s looking at a couple of middle schoolers.

“Yes, Chris too,” Chiron answers. 

“Who’s left then?” Travis asks. 

“I'm not sure. You will see next summer who came back.”

Lee shares a look with the other counselors and it’s like the same brain wave pulse through all their minds. Forcing a smile, Lee turns to their two newest counselors. 

“I don’t think everybody knows everybody here so how about we all go around and say our name, what cabin we run, and what our favorite instrument is? Just to break the ice? I’ll start. I’m Lee. I’m 18 years old. I run the Apollo cabin and I love all instruments.”

For maybe five seconds nobody follows him and Lee is ready to very subtly call out Rowling to continue when Rowling groans, head falling back onto his chair.

“Name’s Rowling. 17. Ares. And I like ping pong.”

“That’s not an instrument, Rowling,” Lee says.

“I’m Lillith. I’m 18. I run the Demeter Cabin and my favorite instrument is the piano.”

Karen is doing her best to stifle her sobs and she succeeds somewhat. “Im Karen. I’m 19 years old. What's the other things? I am the counselor for Aphrodite cabin and I like the (sniffle) the (sniffle) somebody give me a tissue please.”

And as Rosette passes the Kleenex box down the table, she says, “Rosette. 18. Hephaestus. Clarinet.”

And last, “My name is Mikaela. 16. I’m Annabeth’s counselor and I hate music.”

* * *

When everybody starts to file out to call it a night, Chiron holds him back. Lillith and Karen look back in concern before Lee waves that it’s okay and they leave. 

“What’s up, Chiron?”

There’s an unnaturally pained look on Chiron’s face. “I know you are very involved in your school as a section leader for your marching band, the president of Leo Club, and the vice president of Key Club. All very admirable and I’m positive you worked incredibly hard to achieve. I… it pains me to ask you this but,” And Chiron grimaces, “But, could you come to camp earlier than you usually do? Luke’s actions are very concerning and I would like to find him as soon as possible and stop whatever he is planning.”

“Sure.”

“I know I’m asking a lot, especially when you are applying to college this year but — pardon, did you say yes?”

Lee leans back on the table and nods. “Yeah, I don’t mind cutting back on my extracurriculars. They’re not that important in the grand scheme of things.” 

Chiron sighs, shoulders sagging. “Thank you, Lee. You are very kind.”

* * *

That night, Luke visits him in his dreams. 

When Lee collapses onto his bed, falling asleep in seconds, he wakes up in an endless prairie, the brown fields going as far as he can see. No green. No flowers. Everything is brown and dead. The sun has set, the sky a vivid purple. 

And right in front of him, several feet away, is Luke with his back turned.

“Luke?” Lee says hesitantly. 

Luke didn’t turn around. “Happy birthday. Against all odds, you somehow made it to the big nine oh.”

“Luke… I… is it true? Are you really with Kronos?”

“Yeah.” And Luke turns around, eyes their usual blue. Lee lets go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I need you to join me actually. I could use a person like you around. You’re great with people.”

“Luke, I, what are you doing? Do you know what kind of game you’re playing? Do you know who Kronos_ is? _”

Luke’s mouth turns up into a sneer. “Of course I do. But are the gods any different from the titans? They both treat their children like shit.”

Lee swallows and forces the lump growing in his throat to go away. This is Luke he’s talking with. Luke would never willingly hurt them. Luke is reasonable. Luke is smart. He’ll see what he’s doing is crazy and comes to his senses. And this can be all just one big joke they will laugh at years down the road. 

“The gods are bad parents, yeah, but they never tried to eat us like Kronos did with his children. We should—”

There’s a yellow tinge at the inners of his iris as he barks, “We should what? Apollo knocked your mom up and left her to raise you alone. She didn’t even want you, didn't even want anything to do with you. Your dad knows this and he did nothing. You’re not upset? You’re not angry?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“All these years you've been at camp, seeing all those unclaimed didn’t make you feel anything?” Luke snarls. 

“No, I just don’t think —“

“So what do you think should be done?”

“We should talk with our parents. We should—”

“So nothing. You want to do nothing. Talking does nothing. Words mean nothing.”

The more they talk, the brighter Luke’s eyes glow until the blue is all gone and all that is left is that iridescent yellow. Lee has to keep reminding himself that this is Luke and not a stranger, that Luke cares for the camp and his cabin and Annabeth, that Luke cares for Annabeth. 

“Luke… if you continue this, your brothers are going to fight in a war. Annabeth is going to fight in a war. What if they get hurt? What if they die, Luke?” 

A moment's pause. A silver of blue pushing back the yellow. But his face hardens. His jaw tightens. The yellow overtakes the blue completely and his head raises. “I don’t care.” 

“If you’re not going to help me, then I’m done talking with you. Goodbye, Lee.”

**—September—**

“Lee, dude, buddy, pal, why did you quit Marching Band? You were going to be Section Leader! And why did you step down from Key Club and Leo Club? These would have boosted your college application. Are you stupid?!”

Lee rolls his eyes and slams his locker shut, turning the dial on the lock. “It’s not the end of the world if I don’t get into college, guys. Stop acting like it is. I’m not quitting everything to laze around. Something came up at home that I need to devote my time to. And besides your personal statements and grades matter too, not just your extracurricular.”

His friends immediately drop the anger for concern which is very nice and it truly means a lot and he can see their hurt when he refuses their offer to help. 

Demigod problems should stay demigod problems. 

When he makes his way up Half Blood Hill, there’s no one waiting for him. The camp is wonderfully empty as it should be during the year. At the Big House’s porch sits Chiron in his wheelchair. He waves when Lee comes bounding down the hill and up the porch. 

Lee smiles and tosses his backpack aside. “So how should we screw with Luke’s plans?”

**—October—**

Lee is special in the sense that he has none of that demigod reeking scent. He can use phones and computers and the TV as much as he likes with no consequences whatsoever. 

Chiron said something like this is rare. 

Something he inherited from his mom must have made him monster-proof. 

So when he sees a monster, he knows another demigod is nearby. 

It’s how he figured out Michael is a demigod. 

And it’s how he finds Will. 

The only way into Gildroy High School, when the gates are not open during dropoff and pickup hours, is through the front office. Lee doesn’t know if it was fate that made Mrs. Mackeroy sick and get a substitute teacher or if it was just a coincidence, but Lee is so, so, so glad that whatever the powers may be above made it happen. 

Lee is taking the attendance sheet to the attendance office, right beside the front office, when the doors to the outside slams open. He waits for Lora the receptionist to chide the newcomer about their fragile doors, but it never comes. Instead all he hears is a child’s voice on the verge of tears. 

“H-Help! Help me, please!”

Lee glances up. The kid is all scuffed up. There’s dirt marks all over his shirt and Lee can see bloody welts from scraps on his knees and elbows. He’s wearing the Hodgkins elementary school uniform. That’s only 15 minutes away from here and they shouldn’t be out yet. 

“Please help me,” the kid says but Lora still hasn’t said anything and Lee steps toward them with caution. Lora would never be indifferent to a person in need. Something’s wrong.

“Hey! A-are you listening?! There’s a monster! A-A-A really big, scary monster is chasing me! I-It hurt my mom! Please help her!!”

Lee’s eyes trail outside where the kid came from and sure enough, there’s a man in a trenchcoat walking towards them. Probably a cyclops. 

Lee glances back at Lora with her glazed over eyes.

Definitely a cyclops that can manipulate the mist. 

It seems to be just one cyclops. He can deal with just one. Lee ducks behind a printer, hidden from view. 

“Help me please!”

The door opens.

The child shrieks.

Lee counts the steps the man takes inside. One. Two. Three. The door closes. And Lee leaps from the wall and tosses his darts with celestial gold crusted at the tip at the monster. 

It didn’t even have time to widen it’s eye in surprise before poofing into dust. 

“What? Huh?”

Lee walks to the flabbergasted child clinging to the counter. With a careful smile he hopes is non-threateningly, Lee says, “Hey, you ok— oof!”

The kid wails again and slams into his stomach, hands clutching his shirt. In between the sobbing and wailing he could hear the kid saying, “You saved me! You saved me! Are you an angel? Thank you for saving me.” 

Lee looks over the kid once. He doesn’t appear to be hurt too badly, but it can’t hurt to ask. “Are you hurt?”

The child shakes his head. 

“What’s your name?”

The kid sniffles, wiping his snot on his shirt. Lee takes the kleenex from the front desk to pass to the kid. 

“Will.”

“Hey, Will. My name is Lee. It’s going to be okay. Where’s your mom? I’ll go check on her.”

Lee tries to pry Will's hands off him but it just makes him clings all the tighter. 

“It’s going to be dangerous. I don’t want you to be in danger,” Lee tries reasoning. Cyclops sometimes travel in groups. There might be more nearby and he doesn't want to be in a position where both Will and Will’s mom is in danger and he can only save one. He just _ knows _that’s how this will end up.

But when Will mutters, “Please don’t leave me.” Lee stops and gives in rather easily. Holding Will’s hand in his and retrieving his darts and taking the first aid kit just in case, Will leads him to his mother. 

She is dead of course, her head bashed in with a blunt object. At least it was a quick death. He kills the two cyclops standing over her body and checks her pulse, shaking his head. Will cries and hides his face into his shoulder.

Lee isn’t disillusioned. 

He knows how lucky he is being monster proof. 

He’s so blessed with what he has. 

He can live a normal life if he wants.

But Annabeth. Percy. Travis and Connor. Clarisse. None of them can. 

And now this child clinging to him too. 

Will doesn’t have any relatives who’ll take him in. His mother is all he has. The foster system is a thought but considering the average family don’t know the existence of demigods plus the added mess the foster system is… And in his own apartment, there’s already a demigod living in the complex and Michael attracts plenty of monsters on his own. There’s nowhere for him to go except for camp. 

“Hey Will, do you want to go to a camp? It’s for special people like you and me.”

“Is it safe?”

Lee falters. Safe? No, not when Thalia’s Pine is slowly dying from whatever is poisoning her. Monsters are seeping through the weakening barrier. It’s not safe there like it used to be. 

And Will feels his hesitancy and hugs him tighter.

“Will you be there?”

Now that he can answer with certainty.

“Definitely.” 

**—November—**

Lee kinda expected it to happen any day now. 

The barrier is weakening. ‘A fungus infected the tree’, Lillith said, ‘Nothing I can’t fix but it will take a couple days for it to recover to full health.’ Not a lot of monsters are passing through, but still a decent amount. The harpies and Argus can’t handle them all. One of these days there’s going to be a big monster they can’t handle.

And he’s right.

The middle of the night, Lee got a call from Chiron.

“Come to camp.” 

When he got there, half of the cabins are up in flames. The yearrounders are gathered outside a safe distance from the flames. Travis fills him in.

Apparently, a chimera invaded from the top. The harpies didn’t detect it until it was right above the cabins. By the time Clarisse and Connor took the chimera out, it lit half the cabins on fire. 

Only Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, and Artemis’s cabins remain.

Chiron ensures them any belongings lost in the fire can be recovered (thank god, his poor instruments) but it’s going to probably take a day or two and apparently, using the other cabins is ‘disrespectful’.

So this is how Lee finds himself in this situation. Six demigods in his backseat as he heads back home to his apartment.

Lee has a very strong belief. 

Demigod problems should stay demigod problems. 

His teachers don't know he’s half-god. His classmates don't know he’s half-god. His clubmates don't know he’s half-god. His friends don't know he’s half-god. 

His mom doesn't know he’s half-god. His mom doesn't know who their dad is. His mom doesn't know where he has been going all these years after school. His mom doesn’t know he’s fighting in a war. His mom knows absolutely nothing because she’s never in his life to begin with. 

And when he left at two this morning to go to Camp, there still wasn’t any sign of her. It’s four A.M. now. She shouldn’t be out but he still knocks on their 3rd story apartment door and announces quietly, “Hey, it’s me.”

A chair screeches beyond the door. 

Ah. 

She is home. 

(Home? Can she really call this apartment she’s always hiding in a home?)

Lee waits until the scrambling is gone before unlocking the door and gesturing them in. 

“Come on in, guys. Welcome to my apartment.”

Silena and Will are the first to go in with awe on their faces. Clarisse, Beckendorf, and Travis follow close behind. Only Connor lingers. His hand tugs on his shirt bottom and there’s a frown on his face. 

“Why did you knock?”

_ Because my mom doesn’t want to see me. _

Lee shakes his head and ushers him inside. 

Their apartment is a standard two-bedroom, two-bathroom lease. The dining room and living room are grouped into one with the kitchen being the size of a janitor’s closet. It’s not much but it’s enough for the both of them. 

“Make yourself at home as I monster-proof, okay?” Lee says, mixing one part vinegar and one part lemon juice and one part water in a spray bottle. This concoction will help keep the demigod scent hidden from monsters and they all know not to touch the phones. He sprays the door cracks, the window sills, all along the walls, in his room too where they’ll mostly be staying, everywhere until the stench permeates their living space. 

Hopefully, that’ll keep them safe. If not, well, Clarisse and Connor can kick ass pretty well.

He finds the six of them rummaging through the cabinets. Silena, Will, and Beckendorf pull away in guilt when they see him enter, but the other three continue shifting through with excitement. 

“Dude! Ramen!”

“He has Hot Cheetos!”

“I want to do the spicy ramen challenge!”

“Are you guys hungry? I can make you something. I am a _ great _ cook,” Lee says. 

Immediately, Travis in the cupboards snorts. “That means he can’t cook, Will.”

Will, bless his kind heart, gives him a bright smile. “I think Lee is a great cook.”

“Then you’ll be the first to eat his cooking. We’ll see how much you think Lee is a great cook,” Clarisse sneers. 

“You guys are so mean. I open up my home to you and you all just insult me,” Lee jokes, but Silena didn’t seem to catch it, volunteering to eat his food first. 

Travis isn’t lying when he says he can’t cook. He really can’t. The most he can do is make ramen. Last time he tried was last month when he had the other counselors over and he tried to make some paninis. You know, like a good host should. They all ended up burning. Rowling laughed at him. Karen offered some kind words. Mikaela utterly showed him up by cooking a five-star meal. Rosette was missing per usual. And Lillith thankfully was too busy tending to the garden outside to notice. 

All in all very embarrassing. 

He’s not about to go through the same embarrassment with these middle schoolers. Nobody can screw up making Top Ramen. He plugs the electric kettle in and as he waits for it to heat the water up, he checks the fridge. No milk. No orange juice. Half a dozen of eggs. An onion. One apple. Definitely not enough to feed 7 people. 

“Do you guys want anything for breakfast tomorrow?” Lee says, closing the fridge. 

“Pizza.”

“Steak.”

“Muffins!”

“Cookies and brownies!”

Lee takes it all into consideration and tosses it all into the mental trash. “I can only get bacon, eggs, and cereal. What kind of cereal—”

“Lucky Charms.”

“Cheerios!”

“Reese's Pieces.” 

He takes out his phone, scrolling down his messages from friends to his mom. He texts a carton of eggs, the wanted cereal brands, two gallons of milk and two 16-ounce slices of bacon before topping it all off with a ‘thanks!’ and hits send. A second later, there’s a little read checkmark. 

“Your mom is awake. Why are you doing this?” Connor says, frowning and sitting backward on the dining room chair as he opens a bag of Fritos. 

Lee bites his cheeks. 

_ Because my mom doesn’t want to see me. _

“It’s always been this way. This is how we communicate. She gets me everything I want. That’s how I got a car,” Lee says, unwrapping the packages. Silena and Will help too. 

Travis chokes on the granola bar he’s eating. “S—_ (cough) _—she got you a car cause you ask?!”

“Yup!” Lee smiles as he recalls the memory. He texted it as a joke because his friends prompted him too. Just to see how far he can go. The next morning, there’s a Prius sitting in the parking lot. He didn’t go any further than that. 

“I got my permit when I was 15 and a half. Chiron was my supervising adult. Six months later I tested for my license.”

“Your mom couldn’t do it for you?” Connor mumbles through the mouthful of Fritos.

_ My mom doesn’t want to see me. _

“My mom is a very busy person.” Lee pours the hot water into the seven open ramen cups, leaving a fork over the top of each one. Every so often, he gets this reaction. ‘Your mom doesn’t do this for you?’ ‘Your mom isn’t here for this award ceremony?’ ‘Your mom is absent for your birthday?’ and like always, he just goes back to the faulty reasoning he always gives. “She runs the choir along with a large chunk of band stuff. Not to mention that she’s very active in the community. She volunteers at the animal shelter and goes to help with the senior center. I admire her. She’s so giving. I want to be like her one day.”

“But… she’s your mom,” Will says with the saddest eyes ever. 

And maybe for the first time ever, he admits, “She doesn’t want to see me.”

“Why?”

Lee shrugs and lies between his teeth. “Who knows. Eat up. I have _ so _many cool things to show you in my room.” 

**—December—**

“Look, guys, I think we’re looking too far. Luke is poisoning the tree. And no matter how much Lillith heals it, it’s poisoned even more the next day. He’s obviously nearby. Maybe there’s a hidden area somewhere in Camp.” 

“I don’t think so. The poisons aren’t something you can find around here. Besides Mr. D would have said something by now.”

“Mr. D hates our fucking guts. I’m sure he would love to see us dead.”

“Rowling, don’t say that. Mr. D loves us. Somewhere deep in his heart, he truly cares for us. ... I think… maybe… He kinda remembers our names at least!”

“Karen, your fucking optimism is going to get us all killed.” 

“Hey now, let’s not get so riled up.”

If there’s one thing Lee thinks is messing them up as counselors, it’s their teamwork. They all are decent fighters. And in groups of two or three, most of them get along extremely well. But all together… Rowling’s passion, Karen’s kindheartedness, Lillith’s stubbornness, Rosette’s passivity, and Mikaela’s strong-will all clash against each other.

Rowling’s intense dislike of the gods stirs up Karen who tries to see the good in the Gods. Rowling gets riled up and that makes Karen teary-eyed and Lillith shouts back in Karen’s defense. It doesn’t help when Mikaela starts backing up Rowling about the Gods’ negligence. It becomes a 2v1 yelling match and Lillith is not a person to back down.

When it gets to that point, nothing can cool Mikaela and Rowling down except for Chiron. 

Fortunately, it rarely gets to that point. 

“Lee’s right. Everybody, be quiet,” Mikaela says, her drumming fingers giving away the fuming anger beneath her calm facade. “We’re not going to get anywhere by shouting. We only have one hour before Chiron gets back from his meeting. Let’s decide what to do next and disband.”

The door to the conference room opens and Lillith enters, gnawing on an ambrosia brownie. 

“I got rid of the poison,” Lillith says, “But it’s getting more potent. Pretty soon, I’m not going to be able to do anything. If Luke continues this, the tree is going to die and the higher ups will find out. I don’t think Thalia’s father would be too happy to know what happened to his daughter.” 

“All the more reason to find Luke,” Mikaela states as Lillith finds her seat in the big room. 

“What are we talking about?” 

“Where Luke is.”

“I think he’s somewhere outside of Camp. Maybe in the town Lee lives in,” Karen offers but Rowling shakes his head.

“He’s poisoning the tree daily. He needs to be nearby.”

“Lee’s town is pretty nearby.”

“Pretty sure someone would notice a car coming and going daily. He got to be on Camp somewhere. I say we burn down the forest, make that weasel come running out.”

“The nymphs would kill you,” Lillith points out.

Mikaela bites her lips. “Not necessarily.”

“What do you mean? The nymphs practically are the forest. They live in the trees. You burn those and—”

“No, not that. What Rowling said. Luke doesn’t need to be nearby as long as he has somebody on the inside.”

An uncomfortable silence falls over them, broken only by campers outside playing volleyball. Somebody on the inside. Somebody here since the beginning of October when the poisoning started. Somebody… Lee shakes his head, ridding of the image that pops up. It’s not them. 

“So you’re trying to say we have a spy,” Lillith says. 

Mikaela nods. “They have to be close to Luke. Somebody with great acting abilities. Fast. Sneaky. A good liar. Basically the opposite of Will.”

“We shouldn’t rule anybody out,” Lillith warns, “Luke could have talked with him during that month he left and when Lee found Will. Sure, Will is terrible at lying, and he snitches on everything, and he can’t for the life of him not tell the truth, but he could... you know what? I changed my mind. I don’t think Will is the spy.”

“I had some in mind.” And when Mikaela says that, her eyes flashes to him for a second before going back to the group. “I think it’s Travis and Connor.”

Lee’s mouth opens, but Rowling beats him to it, mumbling, “They did know Luke for some time.”

“And they’re fast, at least, one of them is,” Mikaela follows. 

“And they're the sons of Hermes too,” Lillith mutters, “I think it’s kinda suspicious all of Hermes’ kids left but they stayed.”

“Shouldn’t that be a testimony to their loyalty?” Karen argues, “The fact they stayed got to mean something.”

“I think it’s more suspicious than anything,” Lillith says, leaning back in the chair and tugging her gardener's hat over her face. 

“Rose, what do you think?” Mikaela asks. 

Lee nearly forgot about the sixth member of their team. She never talks unless prompted. Not that it mattered. 

“I don’t know,” Rose mutters apathetically. 

“Do you have any idea who the spy might be? Or where Luke is?”

“I don’t know.”

Lee can see Mikaela resists sighing and rubbing her nose in irritation. Instead she turns her eyes to him. “Lee, what do you think? You knew almost all the yearrounders since their first days. What are their motives?”

“I think we shouldn’t rule anybody out.” Lee says, still pushing his doubts to the bottom of the barrel. “We all thought Luke was good too and look at what he’s doing.”

**—January—**

“Definitely not. Travis and Connor would never betray us like this,” Annabeth says. 

“Why do you think that?” Lee asks curiously.

It’s been almost a few days since Annabeth came back from her home. Apparently, she needs a break from them. A little monster appeared and her whole family went ballistic. Annabeth says she handles it no problem (which Lee believes 100%. Annabeth is the most capable demigod he ever met), but her dad and step mom still went over the moon. 

“Travis loves his dad too much to follow Luke and Connor hates playing pretend. They’re not spies.” Annabeth continues, swinging her legs over the top bunk.

Lee sighs in relief. Annabeth knows them best. If she says they’re good then they’re good. It doesn’t matter if he and the others have doubts. 

“What about the others?” Annabeth asks with narrowed eyes. 

“Who?”

“Mikaela and the rest. What are their reasons for staying?”

Mikaela and Rose… he doesn’t know. But Karen’s dad is still in love with Aphrodite and her going against the goddess would break his heart. Rowling’s reasons are purely for spite, that his son beat a Titan his father himself couldn’t. And Lillith actually has a good relationship with her mom. But he can’t exactly say any of that. His friends told him in confidence and he can’t break their trust. 

“Um, before I answer that,” he says, eyes darting around the cabin to finally rest on his saviors, “Why are Travis and Connor taking a nap in the middle of the day? They never done that before.”

Annabeth looks away suspiciously. 

“I don’t know.”

**—February—**

“Lee.”

Lee twirls around in the swirly chair, pen between his teeth, and sees one of the Stolls by the door of the music room. 

“Wassup?” He narrows his eyes. “Traaa...?”

Connor shakes his head. “Connor.”

“Wassup, Connor? What can I do for you?”

Connor stares at the computer behind him and Lee fills in unprompted. “It’s my Economics homework. I missed class and had to make up the assignment.”

“Because you were out on a quest with Rowling and Lillith?”

“Righty-o.”

“So you’re busy.”

“Nope! I was going to take a break and get something to eat. What’s up?”

Connor lowers his head, hands fidgeting behind his back. Now that’s concerning. Lee puts the pen down. 

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Katie was upset today,” Connor mutters. 

Upset? With the way Hermes Cabin was swathed in thick vines, it seems more like Katie had a meltdown. Even Lillith was impressed. The hours Lee spent pruning the vines off the cabin was awful. Absolutely terrible. 

“Yeah. She was. Wasn’t she?”

Connor bites his lower lip. “Whenever Will is crying, you always know what to say. How do you do that?”

How? Man, he was just winging it back then and praying he didn’t do anything wrong. And it just so happens Will responds best to hugs and Lee always has hugs to give out. 

He’s positive Connor forgot about it now, but back when he was 13 and Connor’s 6, he tried to give Connor a hug too and instead got a taser to the ribs. He got a great lesson that day. Never assume everybody is okay with hugs. 

Learning how to comfort someone is all about experience and trial and error. 

“Whenever Travis is crying, what do you do to comfort him?” Lee asks

Immediately Connor scowls. “I leave him alone. Travis doesn’t cry when people are around.” 

“Oh.” Lee hesitates. “Well… most people like physical contact. Wrapping an arm around the shoulder. Rubbing or patting the back. Letting them sob all over your neck or shoulder if they want. You want to show sympathy. You should tell them what they’re feeling is valid, that they’re not wrong for feeling the way they do.”

Connor bites his lips. “But at the moment, I forget all that.”

“And that’s what practice is all about. Here, pretend I am a new camper and I miss home a lot because my mom would—I don’t know—sing to me every night. What would you say to me?”

Connor bunches the bottom of his camp shirt in his hands. “I don’t know. You’re valid?” 

Lee stifles his laugh. “Okay, nice first attempt. Let’s say the person is like Will. Very touchy touchy, knows no personal space, cannot even fathom why a person wants a bubble. You would...”

“Hug… him?”

“Yes! Just open your arms and if the person wants a hug, they’ll see it as a hug. But let’s say I’m someone like Clarisse. Tough, prideful, will dropkick you if caught crying. What would you do?”

In the end, Lee didn’t get much homework done but it is worth it to see Connor be just a teeny bit more comfortable with people. 

Summer is going to be a bitch when all the campers come back. 

**—March—**

He shouldn’t have helped Connor last month with his lack of comforting abilities. He shouldn’t have saved Travis from chore duty yesterday. He shouldn’t have ever became their friend six years ago. Maybe then he wouldn’t be in this situation he’s in now.

“Come on, Lee. You’re overreacting,” Connor snorts. 

“Yeah, Lee, it’s not the end of the world,” Travis follows. 

Lee tightens his hands on the steering wheel. “I am getting real tired of finding surprises in my car.”

Travis leans forward from the back, resting his cheek on the passenger seat’s shoulder. “You like it.”

“What I like,” Lee takes his keys out of the ignition and looks behind him in exasperation. Travis and Connor sit on either ends, twin smiles on their twin faces. “Is to see only my trumpet and _ invited _ guests in the backseat.”

“You like it,” Connor repeats smugly. 

Lee rolls his eyes. He steps out of the car, the brothers following suit. They stand at his tail end as he locks the car and doubly make sure no one else is in the backseat. Poor Beckendorf and Chr— poor Beckendorf would often be looped into their crazy schemes.

“Beckendorf isn’t with us this time. He wanted to hang out with Silena,” Travis kindly fills him in. 

“So what are we going to do here?” Connor asks. 

“I’m having dinner with the Yews. I have never been late before and I’m not starting now otherwise I would take you both back right now. Then later I'm meeting a couple friends. We have a project for history and I can’t bail on them.”

“I can’t believe you’re so diligent about your school work.”

“Well…” Lee wonders if he should tell them. No, maybe another day. “Having ADHD and dyslexia is a bit—problem. It’s a problem, but my friends have been really supportive and my teachers really understanding.”

Connor snickers and whispers (not really) to Travis, “He was about to say bitch.”

Lee rolls his eyes and heads into the apartment complex. The Yews live a floor above his. Many times a night, he would hear the toddler twins screaming and running across the apartment with probably Michael chasing after them. Many times a night, he would babysit all five Yew children and sit through a long marathon of Pixar films. Many times a night, he would see a monster lingering outside the apartment, deal with it, and then wonder when he should take Michael to camp. 

Mrs. Yew should officially be termed his legal mother. She often takes him out to go to discovery parks with her own children. She would celebrate his birthday. She would buy him presents. She would accompany him to school award ceremonies. She would come watch his middle school and high school band performances.

It’s hard to believe a woman so supportive of her children would be best friends with his mother who’s support rivals that of his father. 

But who Michael’s mom chooses to associate herself with is none of his business.

“No talking about demigod stuff while we’re eating,” Lee says as he climbs the stairs with the brothers in tow. “No talking about camp. No talking about your abilities. No talking about your life. Just nothing about your demigod heritage and it’ll all be good.”

“Wow, Lee, it sounds like you’re living a double life with all these rules,” Travis comments. 

Connor deepens his voice. “Lee Fletcher. Normal High School student at day, but modern day Superman after school.”

Travis laughs and Lee groans, wishing more than ever now that Annabeth is back already from her parent’s house. She would have kept them from sneaking on board his car or at least keep them both in check. 

“Guys, I know you probably think this is a great opportunity to make fun of me, but you’re going to meet Michael and I know it’s going to be _ very _ obvious but please don’t say anything about him being a—”

“I’m a what?”

“_ Oh my god. _” Lee spins around and unfortunately finds the one person he didn’t want to overhear their conversation. Michael stands at the top of the stairs and is wearing that god awful Christmas t-shirt with the elves they all got two years ago as matching outfits. He remembered lamenting about that in the Hermes cabin and it seems Connor remembers too as he snickers behind him. 

“Michael! Buddy! What are you doing outside by yourself?”

“I’m taking out the recycling.” And he holds up the blue canister in one hand. Michael points at the brothers’ shirt and asks, “What’s Camp Half Blood?”

Crap. Travis and Connor’s shirts. He forgot to switch them out. “Um, it’s a— they’re, um—” 

“It’s a summer camp,” Travis answers for them. A safe, unassuming answer. Nice going. Except Travis didn’t end it there like he should have and kept talking and Lee wants to scream. “And an orphanage.”

“It’s an orphanage?” Michael asks, eyebrows raised. “And you guys are… orphans there or just campers?”

“We’re kinda bo—mphhffff!”

Connor jumps in, clamping a hand over Travis’s mouth. “What my brother is trying to say is that Camp Half Blood is a summer camp with an option for full time residency.” 

A second ticks by and Michael’s pensive expression remains unchanged. “Right… Hey, Lee, who are they?”

“They’re my cousins.”

Michael frowns. “Your mom is an only child.”

“On my dad's side,” Lee adds. 

And Michael frowns even more. “Your dad is back in your life?”

Connor oh so unhelpfully adds, “Our fathers are both part of the ‘make them, dump them’ club. That’s how we found each other.”

Michael’s eyes flit between him and the Stolls with unease. His grip on the canister tightens. “Lee, are you in trouble right now? Are they holding you hostage”

“What? No! Why would you say that?”

And because Michael is brutally honest, doesn’t know when to not be so honest, is absolutely uncaring about _ anybody's _ feelings, he says the worst thing he could ever say in this situation. “Because they look kinda iffy and not people you should trust.”

It’s like watching a switch being flicked on. Connor’s smile drops. His head raised. His fists clench. His shoulders stiffen and there’s this cold, calculating look in Connor’s blue eyes. 

Too late. 

Lee couldn’t intervene on time.

“Hey, Lee, who is this toddler? They shouldn’t be wandering around by themselves. Somebody might kidnap them.”

It’s amazing how Connor pinpoints one of Michael’s peeves just like that. He wonders if it was by chance or if Connor can actually sense Michael’s insecurity. 

“Toddler?! I’m 13!”

“No, no, you’re _ way _ too short. You can’t be older than 5 at most.” 

“Five!? That’s it. You and me. Wrestling match right here. I’ll kick your ass.”

“Guys, come on. Don’t do this…”

But Michael already tosses the bin aside and is taking off his jacket too. 

Michael is a black belt in karate. He has been taking martial arts since he was six and if it wasn't for the fact that Connor has been doing judo for just as long and is actually the only one crazy enough to practice with Annabeth daily, Lee would be seriously concerned. 

This isn’t the foot he wanted to start off with. Michael already has zero friends at school and Travis and Connor are going to be his counselors. They _ need _to get along. 

“Guys, stop it.”

They didn’t listen. Michael never listens to anybody. Connor, though, sometimes listens. And if he won’t listen to him, then Lee will just get the next best thing. 

“Travis, can you—”

But Travis is gone. 

He isn’t beside them. He isn’t behind them. He isn’t anywhere and Lee is really to have a full blown panic attack but from down the block, he sees Travis running towards them. In his hand is his celestial tinted army knife. Travis smiles goofily at him as he approaches, tucking the weapon away in his pocket. 

“Sorry, I saw a ‘dog’ and I had to go pet them,” Travis says with air quotes around dog, but Lee gets the message. It wasn’t a dog. “So what are we— Connor, stop picking fights with kids half your age. It’s unfair to them.”

“I’m going to kick both of your asses!”

**—April—**

Lee remembered the day when Luke picked up Travis and Connor. He remembered Luke for some reason needing to change into a new pair of pants. He remembered twin stares of distrust. He remembers one catching him staring too long and in an attempt of what was probably intimidation, made a taser go off. 

He wonders what Luke felt that moment, when he found the brothers and talked with them about Camp Half Blood. 

Because Lee himself is scared shitless. 

And it doesn’t help that this demigod he’s facing is a thousand times more gifted in their godly powers then he is. 

Seriously, like, the girl standing before him is a second Katie Gardner.

Except she has more control.

And she can make weapons.

And she isn’t afraid of using them.

And she isn’t shy of bashing his head in either. 

All in all, this bamboo-sword wielding demigod terrifies him and he wishes Katie warned him her sister is a lot more violent than she is. 

“Who are you? What do you want?”

She smacks her bamboo sword against the asphalt and it _ cracks _ . Oh god she cracked the _ asphalt _. 

“Answer me or I’ll send your head flying.” 

And she demonstrated this by tossing a pebble and hitting it to the next century. 

Lee always does what people ask him of, but this is the first time he truly, truly regretted taking a request. 

_ ‘My sister ran away.’ ‘Please find her.’ ‘She’s probably terrified.’ ‘She’s only twelve! Please find her, Lee!’ _

_ Man, Katie, you just screw me over big time. _

Lee puts up his hands, palms out, and does his best to appear as non threatening as possible. “Hey, there.”

“I really will send your head flying,” she threatens one more time.

Lee swallows. “And I totally believe you. No doubts here. I’m here because your sister asks me to be. Katie is your sister, right? You’re Miranda?” 

Miranda bites her cheek. “Kate sent you?”

He nods and Miranda slowly lowers her weapon. 

“She wanted me to ask you if you wanted a place to stay at Camp Half Blood. Everything’s free for the year rounders. There’s just some side chores to do.” 

Miranda eyes him carefully. Measurefully. Calculating. And when she finally speaks, she sounds like the unsure girl Katie makes her out to be. “So… you’re not with Aeron?”

Lee’s blood runs cold. Aeron was one of the demigods who left with Luke. How does she know about Aeron? 

Miranda continues, “Aeron said he’s recruiting for people like me. That we’re special and that we’ll make the world a better place. You’re not with him, are you?”

Luke’s recruiting demigods? Wait, does that mean those dozen or so demigods the satyrs found last month could be spies? None of them were claimed so are they? Could they? Would the gods even tell them if they were?

“Hey.”

His feet slip out from beneath him and he lands on his back. The tip of the bamboo sword presses against his chest and Miranda smiles above him, a devil’s smile if Lee might say. 

“You’re not with Aeron. Aeron trains his people to fight.”

**—May—**

Karen died. A freak accident, her co-workers in the daycare said. The cameras just stopped working the minute when she was attacked. They guess a dog or a bear mauled her to death. But they all knew better. It wasn’t a dog. It wasn’t a bear. 

Her funeral notice came in the mail a week before the event. Lee debates about going. Her lineage is kept hidden from everybody except her father. He’s going to be a stranger in what will probably be a mass of Karen’s family and friends of California. Only her Dad knows why she would have friends in New York. They burned her shroud here. Does he really need to go to the other side of the country? 

But Silena’s crying tells him she wants to go and the day he was suppose to go to his senior field trip, he attended a funeral. 

With Annabeth and Clarisse as Silena’s moral support and him as the supervisor, they take the pegasi to California. 

It is as big as he imagined. 

He wasn’t really surprised. Karen was a people person. Someone to be trusted. The one to be counted on. Too optimistic. Too friendly. 

“A tragedy.”

“She’s so young.”

“My condolences to her parents.”

“It’s awful, isn’t it?” Mikaela says. Jesus Christ. Lee nearly jumps out of his skin but he keeps his cool. As far as he knows, only they’re supposed to be here. None of the other counselors said they’ll be attending. 

“Yeah, it is. She died too young,” Lee manages to say. 

But Mikaela shakes her head. 

“Look around you. Look at the people. Do you see Aphrodite? Do you see a grieving mother? Do you think she even knows one of her daughters passed away?

Lee glances at Annabeth and the others. Silena weeps silently into her hands and Clarisse is rubbing her back, but Lee can see all three are listening. “Mikaela, don’t start this in front of the others.”

But Mikaela keeps going, eyes forward at the podium. “Who do you think paid for this service? Do you think Aphrodite even gave a cent?”

“Mikaela.” Lee says curtly. “Stop it.”

But she keeps going. “You know, I think it’s pretty strange. Karen was never a big monster attractor and yet, one found her. It’s like someone purposefully sent a monster after her so a new counselor will take her place. We all know she likes to hand out her info in case her siblings want to visit her in California.”

And Silena cries harder. 

Lee shoves Mikaela lightly in the shoulder. “Stop it. This isn’t the time to be saying this.”

Mikaela turns to face him with her stoic face. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“I thought when the war started and I picked the gods’ side, my mom would pay more attention to me. It makes sense. This whole thing started because the gods didn’t care about us. I thought they would change. I thought they would be more engaging. I thought they would be more supportive. I thought they would care.” 

“But none of that happened. Everything stayed the same. We’re still neglected. We’re just pawns to them. Not their children. Not their blood. Just toys. Malcolm is my half brother. I can feel it in my guts. But its been months and Athena still hasn't claimed him. Amazing, isn’t it? They expected us to fight for them. They expected us to die for them. They expected us to honor them and yet, they treat us like this. Can’t come to our birthdays. Can’t come to our graduations. Can’t come to our funerals. Can’t come to anything it seems.”

“I tried for so long to get my mother’s attention. I aced all my exams. I won the robotics championship two times. I started a new club for community service and made it number 1. But I wasn’t her favorite. Nothing I could have done would get her attention. I realize that now. I hope you realize that too, Annabeth. Our mother doesn’t love us. And no matter what you do for her, it won’t be enough. You can give everything to her, but once you fulfill your purpose she’ll drop you like a rag. You always talk about going on adventures and proving yourself to our mom. Well, here’s one more chance. I quit being a counselor. You can have that role.”

Annabeth takes a moment to speak, mouth opening and closing before settling into a frown. “If you join Luke, the world will end. Everybody is going to die.” 

And Mikaela smiles, ruffling her half-sister’s hair. “Who says I’m joining Luke? I’m just going to focus on my school-life. If Athena wants me back, then she needs to change. Until then I’m not doing anything for her ever again. Lee, you should think about leaving too. I heard you got into the top music university in the country. Julliard, right? Your life is starting and if you stay with the gods, you’ll end up like Karen.”

He’ll end up like Karen. Dead. He can’t deny it’s a high possibility. The missions have been getting crazier. Sometimes he can barely keep up. The chances of him dying is so high, he can’t see the top. If he leaves now, he can fulfill his longtime dream of becoming a teacher, but then Will will take his place. An 11 year old. Maybe even younger. He doesn’t think the gods would care how young their children are if they could walk and wield a sword. 

“I can’t.”

Mikaela’s voice becomes laced with pity. “I see… I’m sorry. Goodbye. It’s been fun.”

He never saw Mikaela again after that day. 

A few days later, Rowling and Lillith died the same way Karen did. The tree was poisoned by something new, something fast-acting, something none of the Demeter kids can fix. The tree withered. Zeus wanted a head to punish and Chiron was the easy target for Mr. D to blame. 

And one Iris-Message later, Chiron was getting fired and Lee was losing one more part of his childhood.

**—June—**

Lee hates lying. Hates hates _ hates _it with a burning passion. ‘Science camp’. ‘Safe’. ‘Supervised.’ Sprouting these lies straight to Mrs. Yew’s unassuming face burns a patch in the trust she has in him spanning 19 years. But it’s necessary. He had to get Michael to Camp Half Blood, get him a celestial weapon, and then maybe send him back once he gets enough fighting experience to survive on his own.

“So let me get this straight. Your dad is the god Apollo.”

“That’s right.” 

“And all these greek monsters are real.”

“Absolutely.”

“And I’m also a child of a god.”

“Yup.”

“And I’m going to this ‘summer camp’ to learn how to fend for myself from these monsters.”

“That’s it.” 

Michael throws his head back and laughs. “That’s hilariously dumb, Lee. And hilariously unbelievable. I’m not that gullible.”

Lee stays silent as he pulls up into the parkway of Camp Half Blood just as the clock turns to 7:30 am. He can see Wilbur is here. Celeste too. Katie Gardner is pulling up the driveway with her family as well. He wonders how many of his half-siblings he will see in camp. He wonders how many were scared off by the deteriorating barrier or how many were recruited by Luke or how many died to monsters. 

He steps out of the car and slings Michael’s and his duffel bags over his shoulder

“Come on, Michael. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

They climb up Half Blood Hill and head for the cabins, Michael progressively becoming quieter when he sees Clover growing flowers in his palms, when he sees Vinny levitates three books, when he sees Carla talking with the trees, when he sees satyrs trotting through camp. 

Lee leads them to Hermes’s cabin and knocks twice. 

But instead of Connor answering, it’s Miranda swinging the door wide, wide open and giving them a wide wide grin. “Lee! Welcome back! Oh? Who’s this little fella?”

Lee could practically feel the snap as Michael grits his teeth. Oof. Not already off to a good start. He jumps in the conversation, hoping to defuse the situation before it gets too bad. 

“H-Hey! Miranda! This is Michael. He’s new to camp and unclaimed.” 

Miranda either just doesn’t sense Michael’s ill will or just loves inciting more animosity, but she claps her hands over his and shakes them once. “Welcome to Hermes Cabin! I’m unclaimed too. You’re so young. We don’t get many third graders here.”

“I’m going to be a 9th grader!”

“Oh? You’re older than me? Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed!”

“So, uh, Michael we’ll just drop off your stuff and then I’ll give you a tour,” Lee interjects, sliding into the cabin but Miranda bars his entry and shakes her head. Her smile drops. 

“I’ll show him around. You have a counselor meeting to go to.”

“Right now?”

Miranda nods. “Tantalus. He’s the worst. Everybody is planning border patrol right now around his back.”

It’s weird. 

For so long, it’s just been him and Luke and Karen, Rowling, Lillith, Rosette, and Mikaela. And when Luke left, Travis and Connor replaced him. Then Karen died and Silena replaced her. Mikaela left. Lillith And Rowling died. Annabeth, Veronica, and Clarisse took their place. Then Veronica died too, Katie taking the role from her. Rosette left unannounced and Beckendorf is the counselor now. 

In just one month, all the seniors are gone. 

Stepping into the meeting room and just seeing all their young faces, he can’t help but feel like he’s stepping into a middle school class. 

Percy is still in school. Today is his last day if Lee remembers correctly. Annabeth is missing which is strange because she is always punctual. Connor and Travis are in a game of Poker with Beckendorf. Silena and Clarisse are chatting side by side. Katie will probably take a few moments to get here. There’s a map of Camp in the center and a paper with all their names plus five lines under them. 

He sits down beside Beckendorf and takes a quick peek over at his cards. They’re not great. Seems like Beckendorf is in some hot water. 

“I win this and we have full access to your tool station for the summer.” Connor smirks, Travis high-fiving him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Beckendorf grumbles and admits defeat, laying his cards down and sighing. “Don’t break anything.”

“Woohoo!”

Katie comes running in, panting. “Sorry, I’m late. Randi just told me we’re having a meeting.”

“You’re all good. Annabeth isn’t back yet from picking up Percy,” Beckendorf says, digging through his backpack and handing a key into Connor’s awaiting palm. 

Travis kicks back in his chair, grin lopsided. “Kit Kat Katie! You’re back and you get to spend a _ whole _ summer with us!”

For a second, Lee thought Katie was going to close the door and head back to Texas, her hand on the knob tightens. But Katie only scowls and walks in to take the seat beside Silena. “I’m warning you guys now. I practiced back home and my control is 10 times better than it was in March. Mess with me and you’ll pay.”

Then she leans back in her chair and it farts. Cheeks flaring with red, Katie rips the whoopie cushion off her seat and hurls it at the laughing duo. 

The ground rumbles. Katie leaps on top of the table. Clarisse eggs Katie on. Silena screams for everyone to stop. Beckendorf is getting a Polaroid out. Connor and Travis are still laughing. 

And he thinks that the gods are really gonna let these freshmen fight their battles for them.

**—July—**

The fleece was found. The tree was healed. Thalia was ejected from the tree. Crisis averted. Hallelujah. Happy ending, right? Except Lee can’t get over the fact that the gods _ approved _ three 13 year olds to go to one of _ the _ most dangerous places for a demigod. 

It’s unbelievable. 

It’s outrageous. 

But there’s nothing he can do. There’s nothing he can do to change this. Percy and Annabeth are _ meant _ to be on all these quests. They’re _ meant _ to suffer and _ meant _ to hurt. All for their sake. If they run away, then they’re all gonna die from Kronos. There’s no way out for them. This is just the way the world is. 

“Lee?”

He spins around on the stool. Travis and Connor stand by the door leading to the music room. He spins back and rests his fingers on the piano. “Hey, guys. Do you need something?”

Travis walks into the room with Connor following behind him until they’re behind Lee. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You only play the piano when you’re upset at something.” 

“Do I now?”

“Yeah, you do.”

Lee plays something he once heard from a movie. Probably Transformers. Definitely from a Michael Bay movie. 

“So… are you okay?” Travis or Connor presses.

Lee sighs, spinning around in his chair and resting his chin on the back. 

He looks at the brothers. They look nothing like Luke. They don’t share the same face. They don’t share the same hair color. Maybe the same eye color, but Luke’s is brighter and resembles the sky while theirs is an ocean-like blue. They’re nothing alike. But Luke did rescue them when they were seven. Luke did treat them like his younger brothers. Luke did do everything he could for them.

He thinks back to last year, when Luke appeared telepathically in all the counselors’ mind save for these two. He thinks back to December, when Mikaela raises accusations. To May, when Mikaela theorized Luke killing Karen so Silena can take her place and he hates himself for asking this but

“Why didn’t you join Luke?”

Connor scowls. “Better question is why didn’t you, you douchebag?”

Lee is taken aback at the abrasive tone, but Travis explains, “We were listening in on what you guys said last December.”

He pales. Last December, when they were trying to guess who the spies were. But where—

“You guys never invited us to your meetings even though we’re counselors too. So we hid in the vents a lot to listen in,” Travis says. 

“So why didn’t you join Luke?” Connor snaps, “You know him longer than us.”

“You don’t like your dad. I don’t even think you like your mom. Why are you still here?” Travis follows. 

“That’s a fair question, I guess.” And he spins back around so he wouldn’t see their twin faces filled with hurt. 

“See, my mom and I have a strained relationship. She wanted nothing to do with me. I don’t even know how she looks like. I entered up for kindergarten a year late because she didn’t do it. Mrs. Yew did it for her. She left me alone in the apartment and I was free to go anywhere I want and do whatever I want. 

I thought maybe she worked late to support us since she’s a single mother and all. I used to stay up all night waiting for her to get home. She must have cameras installed because she never came in when I was awake. 

So I thought if I can’t catch her at home, then I’ll catch her at work. She works at the high school 2 blocks from my middle school and I know on Mondays after school she instructs the Marching Band. So one Monday afternoon after school I got on my bike and skedaddled to the high school. I could see the band on the field marching and the drum major on their stage waving the baton. I got closer. Near the trees, under the shade, I saw two women. Mrs. Yew and someone I didn’t recognize. She had long black hair, but other than that, I couldn’t make out much. So I got closer. And closer. And closer. Until I could hear them talking. 

“You should really talk with your son,” Mrs. Yew said, “Lee is nothing like Apollo.”

And when I was about to say something probably cheesy, my mother said she can’t stand the sight of me. She said I look too much like my father. She said my mere existence reminds her everyday of her mistake 14 years ago. She said if her family wouldn’t disown her for doing it, she would have aborted me from the get go. Or at least put me up for adoption.

I was heartbroken. I did nothing wrong. I couldn’t understand why my mother, a person who was supposed to love me unconditionally, would treat me like this. I turned around and got on my bike and pedaled as fast and as far as I can go. My tear-blinded biking led me to Camp Half Blood where I got claimed almost immediately, met Chiron, met Annabeth, and met Luke. 

I got great friends who I could relate to on parental issues. I got a father figure in Chiron. I got you guys, the yearrounders, to hang out with all the time. I was still happy even though my mom wanted nothing to do with me and my dad never talked with me after I was claimed. 

I went back to the apartment because being a yearrounder costs the camp money and I didn’t _ really _ need to be an yearrounder. 

I stayed with the Camp for Chiron. I consider him my dad and if only Luke wasn’t going to hurt Chiron too in his plan to tear down the Olympians, I would have let him do whatever he wants.” 

—**August**—

“Last chance you guys before I leave. I can teach you _ any _ instrument. Clarinet. Flute. Trumpet. Triangle. Piano. Pick one, any one.”

“Oh my god, Lee. Give it up. It’s been months and, for some of us, years,” Annabeth groans.

But Connor, bless his little inquisitive heart, raises his hand. “How well do you know the kalimba?”

“Everything! I actually have one under my bed. Let me go get—”

Annabeth grabs him by the wrist and halts his advance. “Lee, your college orientation is in two hours. It takes one hour to drive there and you have to consider traffic, parking, your bad sense of direction, and finding your dorm. Do you want to be late?”

“She has a point,” Will says, backstabbing him in the back. “You’re bad at directions. You can’t cook. You hate being alone. How are you going to survive by yourself in college?”

“Ouch, Will, that really hurts.”

Will shrugs. “It’s the truth.”

“Julliard is in Manhattan, right? I can come visit whenever you’re free,” Percy says and Lee beams. 

“Percy, you are a saint and such a great per—”

“Kissing up to seaweed brain won’t make him take your music lessons, Lee,” Annabeth says, rolling her eyes. 

And while he’s defending himself, that he’s not kissing up to Percy, that he’s just being honest, that he has no ulterior motive, Silena asks, “What are you studying?” 

“Music.”

Travis tilts his head. “What are you going to do with it?”

“I’m going to become a music teacher at a public school, either middle school or high school. Gotta snare them into music before the art people get to them, you know?”

Connor smiles and before he could say it, Lee is already thinking back to the first time he taught someone. 

“I can see it, but you should really tone down the enthusiasm. It scares people sometimes.”

* * *

The months passed and became a year. He ended his first quarter of college. He, Katie and Silena went on their first mission together. Annabeth was kidnapped. A rescue part was sent for Artemis. Annabeth and Percy held the world. Thalia became a hunter. He started his winter quarter. Miranda got claimed. Malcolm too. He started his spring quarter. He ended his spring quarter. Chris was found. They discovered the labyrinth. Percy and Annabeth went down there. The first major battle is happening. 

The end of his first year, the day after he got the confirmation for his music internship, a month before his 20th birthday, a giant whacked him from behind the head with a club and he died.

As his soul and the rest of the deceased are gathered by Hermes, he can see Mr. D clutching a boy, his son, Castor, in his arms. Hermes catches his staring and maybe it’s because Apollo and Hermes have always been close, but the Messenger God mutters, “Apollo is busy right now, but he’ll say his thank you in Elysium.”

Somehow even the God of Liars couldn’t make his lie convincing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! I have been staring at this document for months now. Like, one year at least trying to piece the scenes together and I can no longer stare at it. 
> 
> As always, reviews are very appreciated, but not required. No worries if you’re too shy or tired. God knows how long it takes for me to reply. 
> 
> ALSO: DO YOU ALL WANT PERCY AND LEO FRIENDSHIP? LEO AND STOLL BROTHERS? LEO AND PIPER? THEN READ THIS AMAZING FIC BY LOAF-OF-TOAST. It’s called Bronze Mirrors. It’s about how if the 2nd titan war never happen and Leo and Piper went to camp like normal demigods


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